Keys' knife confession

The singer - who grew up in tough Manhattan neighbourhood Hell's Kitchen - has revealed she felt safer when she carried a weapon.

Alicia said: "Protection was a big issue. You felt more comfortable with a knife. I felt it someone tried to touch you I would have something to surprise them."

The Grammy award-winning musician says her mother was furious when she discovered Alicia was carrying the knife and vowed to take her daughter away from the dangerous neighbourhood.

Alicia explained to Britain's Guardian newspaper: "I don't remember if she took it away but she was definitely upset. She was upset that I had to be like that, feel like that. She said, 'If this is the case we'll move.'

"It doesn't matter where you move, there's always a situation where someone's attacking you or the possibility of it."

The 26-year-old star - who makes her acting debut in new movie 'Smokin' Aces' - has also admitted that she found it hard to adjust to her fame, because people expected her to dress in a feminine way.

She said: "When I first got into the business, people were saying, 'Why are you such a tomboy?' I was a tomboy because I thought I had to protect myself. As a young lady you have to be careful. I felt any time I called attention to myself, it would bring unwanted attention. I didn't want attention like that so I shrank away from it.

"It was a while before I became comfortable as a young lady to be able to dress more feminine."